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Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood and allied Islamist parties have announced the formation of civilian militias to police the nation in those areas where the actual police have gone on strike over government policies.

Spokesmen for the parties told Egyptian media that militia members would be authorized to arrest those they deemed to be law-breakers.

Beyond the obvious dangers of allowing civilian militias to run rampant, the fact that these militias will be entirely made up of radical Islamists is cause for great concern among secular and Christian Egyptians.

One source who has contributed to Israel Today in the past said life in Egypt is becoming nearly unbearable for Christians. He labeled some of these new militias as "religious police," suggesting that they are indeed targeting as "criminals" anyone who fails to submit to Islamic law.

For Israel, the long-term danger is that Egypt will very much turn into a much bigger and stronger version of Lebanon, where heavily-armed Islamist militias are able to independently threaten the Jewish state with little or no intervention from the government.

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